acquisition

The acquisition of Beats by Apple was not about shutting down a rival company, nor was it about grabbing patents. Apple didn’t intent on purchasing Beats because they wanted good designers or because they didn’t already have good enough headphones themselves. Instead, this purchase was the first in Apple’s public transformation into a company that isn’t forced to retain its excellence by strict regulation of hardware and software. Now begins Apple’s diversification.

In an attempt to get a “headstart”, Apple CEO Tim Cook has confirmed the company is purchasing Beats. He also says Apple will spend $3 billion for Beats, the largest acquisition ever for Apple. This ends weeks of speculation, giving us the answers we’ve been so curious to know.

All the fanfare over Apple buying Beats, and it turns out Apple wasn’t even done researching the company when we first heard of it. A new report from the New York Post suggests Apple was still doing their due diligence when news of the proposed acquisition leaked. The report also suggests Apple has reduced their offer for Beats on the back of poor streaming subscriber numbers.

The Apple deal to acquire Beats, which was supposed to have happened weeks ago, has dragged out far too long. If a deal were to be made, we expect it would have been done by now, but a new report suggests there are some visceral hang-ups keeping it at bay. Most notably, the three tenets of any business dealing: money, power, and respect.

No stranger to big acquisitions, Google is said to be interested in Satellite start-up Skybox. The deal, reportedly worth $1 billion, would roll the service in-house, and likely keep a good portion of Skybox’s staff with Google. The satellite firm was last valued at roughly $700 million last year.

An attempt to save the music industry? An acquihire to get Dr.Dre? Two reports suggest Apple’s deal for Beats would encompass both goals. One one hand, Beats would be the iTunes streaming service many have wanted, while Dr. Dre and Beats partner Jimmy Iovine round out Apple’s “board of cool”.

After shuttering their Twitter Music feature, Twitter is once again said to be interested in the streaming music genre. This time, they’re reportedly eyeing an already robust offering in SoundCloud. Having recently gone public, this would be the biggest grab Twitter has ever made, if they go through with it.

The company formerly known as Enterproid - now as Divide - has been acquired by Google. Google Ventures previously invested in Divide, making this one in a line of companies that had investment cash from Google Ventures only to then be acquired by Google in its entirety. One does not always precede the other, but this situation is too plain to not explore.

According to sources, the AT&T purchase of DirecTV is going to be announced tomorrow. Those familiar with the deal say it’s finalized, and just waiting on an announcement. Breaking news of the deal on a Sunday is odd, but the source of this may be even stranger.